 First Edition Cover | |
| Author | Stephen Graham Jones |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Jacket design by |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | FC2 |
Publication date | August 8, 2008 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 216 pp (first edition, paperback) |
| Preceded by | Demon Theory |
| Followed by | The Long Trial of Nolan Dugatti |
Ledfeather is a 2008 novel by Native American author Stephen Graham Jones, published by FC2 (Fiction Collective Two).
A young Blackfoot man discovers the 1883 letters of an Indian Agent, whose decisions have "impacted the lives of generations of Blackfeet Indians." As the novel progresses, it is shown that this young man, Doby Saxon, and the Indian Agent may be the same soul inhabiting two separate bodies, and the Indian Agent has been forced to live in the future on the same reservation still plagued by the consequences of his decision. [1] [ unreliable source? ]
"Cyclical stuff, iterations, rhythm (which is just repetition with variance)—I can’t seem to stay away from it," was the author's comment in a 2008 interview with Rain Taxi online. [2]
Foreword Reviews described the work as "hallucinogenic lyricism and a nonlinear narrative." [3]
Lit Pub reviewer Edward J. Rathke found the novel to be a remedy for heartbreak: "The next thing I knew, the sun was rising and my heart was breaking, but in a good way, the way that resurrects you, that shows you everything you forgot to pay attention to, forgot to remember, and I closed it because it was done, again, finished for the third time, and I could’ve turned back to page one and began again, which is how the first two readings happened, in consecutive days, because this book burns you, burrows deep, and smolders, lives, reconnects cells, and balances chemistry." [4]
The Piegan are an Algonquian-speaking people from the North American Great Plains. They are the largest of three Blackfoot-speaking groups that make up the Blackfoot Confederacy; the Siksika and Kainai are the others. The Piegan dominated much of the northern Great Plains during the nineteenth century.
The Blackfoot Confederacy, Niitsitapi, or Siksikaitsitapi, is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Blackfeet people: the Siksika ("Blackfoot"), the Kainai or Blood, and two sections of the Peigan or Piikani – the Northern Piikani (Aapátohsipikáni) and the Southern Piikani. Broader definitions include groups such as the Tsúùtínà (Sarcee) and A'aninin who spoke quite different languages but allied with or joined the Blackfoot Confederacy.
The Marias Massacre was a massacre of Piegan Blackfeet Native peoples which was committed by the United States Army as part of the Indian Wars. The massacre occurred on January 23, 1870, in Montana Territory. Approximately 200 Native people were killed, most of whom were women, children, and older men.
The Blackfoot language, also called Siksiká, often anglicised as Siksika, is an Algonquian language spoken by the Blackfoot or Niitsitapi people, who currently live in the northwestern plains of North America. There are four dialects, three of which are spoken in Alberta, Canada, and one of which is spoken in the United States: Siksiká (Blackfoot), to the southeast of Calgary, Alberta; Kainai, spoken in Alberta between Cardston and Lethbridge; Aapátohsipikani, to the west of Fort MacLeod which is Brocket (Piikani) and Aamsskáápipikani, in northwestern Montana. The name Blackfoot probably comes from the blackened soles of the leather shoes that the people wore.
Washakie was a prominent leader of the Shoshone people during the mid-19th century. He was first mentioned in 1840 in the written record of the American fur trapper, Osborne Russell. In 1851, at the urging of trapper Jim Bridger, Washakie led a band of Shoshones to the council meetings of the Treaty of Fort Laramie. Essentially from that time until his death, he was considered the head of the Eastern Shoshones by the representatives of the United States government. In 1979, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
Sherman Joseph Alexie Jr. is a Native American novelist, short story writer, poet, screenwriter, and filmmaker. His writings draw on his experiences as an Indigenous American with ancestry from several tribes. He grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation and now lives in Seattle, Washington.
The Blackfeet Nation, officially named the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, is a federally recognized tribe of Siksikaitsitapi people with an Indian reservation in Montana. Tribal members primarily belong to the Piegan Blackfeet band of the larger Blackfoot Confederacy that spans Canada and the United States.
Quillwork is a form of textile embellishment traditionally practiced by Indigenous peoples of North America that employs the quills of porcupines as an aesthetic element. Quills from bird feathers were also occasionally used in quillwork.
Stephen Graham Jones is a Blackfoot Native American author of experimental fiction, horror fiction, crime fiction, and science fiction. His most widely known works include the horror novels The Only Good Indians, My Heart is a Chainsaw, and Night of the Mannequins.
James Phillip Welch Jr., who grew up within the Blackfeet and A'aninin cultures of his parents, was a Native American novelist and poet, considered a founding author of the Native American Renaissance. His novel Fools Crow (1986) received several national literary awards, and his debut novel Winter in the Blood (1974) was adapted as a film by the same name, released in 2013.
The Treaty of Hellgate was a treaty agreement between the United States and the Bitterroot Salish, Upper Pend d'Oreille, and Lower Kutenai tribes. The treaty was signed at Hellgate on 16 July 1855. Signatories included Isaac Stevens, superintendent of Indian affairs and governor of Washington Territory; Victor, chief of the Bitterroot Salish; Alexander, chief of the Pend d'Oreilles; Michelle, chief of the Kutenais; and several subchiefs. The treaty was ratified by Congress, signed by President James Buchanan, and proclaimed on 18 April 1859. It established the Flathead Indian Reservation.
Earl Old Person was an American Indian political leader and the honorary lifetime chief of the Blackfeet Nation in Montana, United States.
Bleed Into Me is a collection of short stories by Stephen Graham Jones and is part of Native Storiers: A series of American Narratives.
Hugh Aylmer Dempsey, was a Canadian historian, an author and the Chief Curator Emeritus of the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta. Dempsey authored more than 20 books, focusing primarily on the history of people of the Blackfoot Confederacy. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Calgary and was made an honorary chief of the Kainai Blackfoot in 1967. For his contributions to the study of the Plains Indians, Dempsey was awarded membership in the Order of Canada in 1975.
James Willard Schultz, or Apikuni, was an American writer, explorer, Glacier National Park guide, fur trader and historian of the Blackfeet Indians. He operated a fur trading post at Carroll, Montana 47°34′25″N108°22′24″W and lived among the Pikuni tribe during the period 1880-82. He was given the name Apikuni by the Pikuni chief, Running Crane. Apikuni in Blackfeet means "Spotted Robe." Schultz is most noted for his 37 books, most about Blackfoot life, and for his contributions to the naming of prominent features in Glacier National Park.
Carry the Kettle Nakoda Nation is a Nakota (Assiniboine) First Nation located about 80 km (50 mi) east of Regina, Saskatchewan and 13 km (8.1 mi) south of Sintaluta. The reservation is in Treaty 4 territory.
Jessica Louise Donaldson Schultz Graham (1887–1976) was an English professor at Montana State College and social worker on Native reservations in Montana and Wyoming.
Mountain Chief was a South Piegan warrior of the Blackfoot Tribe. Mountain Chief was also called Big Brave (Omach-katsi) and adopted the name Frank Mountain Chief. Mountain Chief was involved in the 1870 Marias Massacre, signed the Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868, and worked with anthropologist Frances Densmore to interpret folksong recordings.
The Only Good Indians is a 2020 horror novel by Stephen Graham Jones. It was first published on July 14, 2020, through Saga Press and Titan Books.
Rosalie Mae Jones, known professionally as Daystar, is a dancer, choreographer, educator and founder and artistic director of DAYSTAR: Contemporary Dance-Drama of Indian America.